maksquibs Review of Mr. Moto's Last Warning

Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1938)

Peter Lorre as Mr Moto races the clock to stop sabotage against French & British Naval maneuvers in Egypt.

[7/10 · 28 November 2007]

In the long line of 'politically incorrect' Hollywood racial casting, Hungarian born Peter Lorre's Mr Moto is probably the least in need of historical/cultural apologies to facilitate our enjoyment of the eight dandy pics he made as the polite, but not quite knowable Japanese detective. This one is a particularly good outing as Lorre/Moto benefits from regular helmer Norman Foster's visual flair and his original storyline which has George Sanders & Ricardo Cortez plotting to disrupt joint Naval maneuvers between France & England @ Port Said, Egypt. Darkly handsome lensing from Virgil Miller (who brought similar chiaroscuro refinement to some of the Universal Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes series), an unexpectedly nasty edge of perverse violence (watch for John Carradine's grim exit), and cleverly integrated Music Hall elements add a nice kick to the proceedings. Even the obligatory comic relief is tightly woven into the narrative fabric. Moto Rules.